Live Music Venue Business Grants

Live music is a critical part of Queensland’s arts and cultural vibrancy and makes important economic and social contributions across the State.

The Live Music Venue Business Grants (the Fund) provides support to live music venues (500-person capacity or less) to respond to shifting audience demands and increased operating costs by strengthening their capacity to attract audiences and diversify income streams.

Fund objectives

The Fund works to strengthen live music venues in Queensland. It places focus on growing and diversifying the business models of live music venues and enhancing their future viability by:

• incentivising venues to consider creative ways to attract new patrons, partnerships or collaborations that grow new profitable income streams
• supporting new and innovative approaches that improve operational efficiency and reduce costs
• improving the patron experience through venue and equipment upgrades.

View the Live Music Venue Business Grants guidelines for more information. 

Funding available

Queensland live music venues of up to 500-person capacity are able to apply to one of following streams:

• Stream 1: up to $50,000 to offset the costs of trialling alternative venue use outside of standard business hours that could lead to new revenue streams, i.e. daytime or Monday and Tuesday nights etc.
• Stream 2: up to $100,000 to support equipment purchases or venue improvements that
  • increase accessibility, venue capacity or patron experience (including sound proofing, air conditioning and ventilation)
  • increase the earning potential and profit from current operations or new activities
  • reduce existing operating costs such as hire fees, insurance or security or improve energy efficiency.

A live music venue is defined as a business whose primary function is to program or host original live music, or that has a significant area within their venue that regularly and frequently hosts ticketed live performances of original music, e.g. a pub with a staged area and a regular program of touring bands would be eligible, but a pub that has weekly live music as part of its dinner service would not.

Original live music is defined as live performances of music that is composed and written by the artist(s) performing (or is exclusively written for the artist/band by someone else). The artist or band may include covers in their live performance, i.e. songs written or previously performed or recorded by other artists, but these should make up no more than half of the songs or pieces performed.

You must provide evidence of matched funding (1:1), cash and/or in-kind.

Applications must be submitted by the Fund closing date:

Funding round	Open	Close	Notification	Activity Start Date
Round 2	28 March 2025	6 May 2025	Late June 2025	From 1 August 2025